"Ah, are these the people that call themselves players?" Alex asked curiously. It had to be.
"Yes," the man said. "Would you like to help, fellow Daoist?"
"Yes, yes," Alex said, bringing out some True spirit stones. He handed them to the man who looked at him with a hint of shock in his eyes.
People usually didn't donate 40 True spirit stones for their causes.
"Thank you," the man said.
"It's alright. I'm a player myself, so I can understand what they are going through," Alex said.
"Ah, you were one of them as well?" the man asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm happy to see that you are doing fine."
"Yes," Alex said. "Do most people not deal properly with this?"
The man shook his head. "Breaking down and crying all day long is one of the better scenarios. Given how fast these people breakthrough, it's always a positive if they don't decide to go on a rampage out of their minds."
"They say they just want to go home. Some… even end up killing themselves to do so," the man said.
Alex felt terrible. Knowing that he was the reason for this, albeit unintentionally, wasn't a very good feeling.
"Is it possible for me to visit these people? I just want to speak to them," Alex said.
The man looked towards the lady who was busy calling other people for donations and looked back to say, "sure, fellow Daoist. Come with me," the man said and took him to a giant building behind him.
Alex followed the man and entered the house. Before even entering, he had sent his spiritual sense inside and saw a lot of people, with various levels of cultivation base, ranging from people in Muscle Tempering to people in the True King realm.
Alex entered the house and saw the group of people, huddled around together, all life lost from their eyes.
He wondered if that would have been him as well had he not retained the memories.
The people looked at him, but there was no curiosity in their eyes. They didn't care who he was or why he was here. They just wanted to go home.
"Can I speak to them in private, brother?" Alex asked.
The man hesitated for a bit, not sure if he should let him.
"Please, I'm someone like them and understand their problem. I just want to help them," he said.
The man still hesitated, but gave up in the end and walked outside. However, Alex could sense him listening through the door.
Alex smiled. He brought out a metal plate from his storage and threw it onto the ground, creating a sound barrier around him and the other players.
Finally, the players looked concerned and got defensive.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you," Alex said. "I'm a player as well, and I want to help you all."
"A player?" the men and women finally stirred curiously.
"Yes, and I am here to bring you… a little information," Alex said. He was about to say hope, but… he wasn't sure the information he was about to give could even give them any hope.
After all, he was going to have to omit the part of the information that did give hope.
"The day you guys regained your control and realized you were in the Luminance empire, a person comes to the city I was to speak to us," Alex said.
The people listened intently, wondering what he was going to say.
"That person was a close acquaintance of the creator of the game," Alex continued. Curiously peaked to levels previously that could be thought impossible amidst these people.
"She gave me a bit of information that I have already spread in the home city, and I am going to give you that same information."
"There is no way back home right now," Alex said, immediately pouring water on everyone that had become somewhat hopeful.
"But there will be one in about 40 years," Alex said. "But in 40 years, the world back home won't be the one you left behind. It would have moved on."
"Home… is not what you should be seeking right now. What you should be seeking is survival."
"You can either stay around for 40 years and go back home, or you can make a new life right here, right now."
"Either way, you will have to get up and get to work. You can't live off of others forever," Alex said.
"Also, do not worry about your family. While… you were stuck here, the person that was previously controlling your body, a clone of yours is back at home, taking care of everyone," Alex said.
"Are you… telling the truth?" the people asked.
"Did the empire send you perhaps?" some other people asked him.
"Nobody sent me. My name is Alex Benton, from Mapleleaf city, currently living in Oakleaf city to study at the Oakleaf university. I have a mother and father who didn't play the game, so like most of you, I worry about them too."
"But then, I remember that a version of me is out there, looking after them, so my worries fade away. I hope yours do too," Alex said.
"Brother," one man said. "I… I have a wife. She plays the game too. So, she should be stuck in the game as well, right?"
"Ah," Alex thought. "What continent was she in?"
"She said it was the Northern Continent," the man said.
"If you want to see your wife, your children, your friends, and families that might be in the other continents, then you will have to get out of here and cultivate to get stronger. If you reach the highest highs of cultivation, you can easily go search for your family members," Alex said. "Do you not want to?"
"Yes, I do," one man said.
"I do too," another woman said.
"Can we reach the peak of cultivation? I… don't think I even understand what cultivation even is really," a young lady about the age of Alex said.
"That I cannot help you in," Alex said. "Everyone had their own path to forge. I have my own. But, you are not alone. Like the people outside, there will be many that will help you on your path."
"Accept the help you receive and help each other. That way, you will surely reach the peak of cultivation," Alex said.
The group started speaking in murmurs and soon one person stood up. "I still have a bit of doubt about your words, but you are right, sitting around doing nothing is not the way to go."
"That's right," another person stood up.
A few people stood up after them, but the majority still stayed down, unsure what they wanted to do.
"No need to rush. You can take your time," Alex said. 'You have so much of it anyway.'
He then picked up the formation plate from below him and got rid of his connection to it.
Suddenly, the sound barrier was destroyed and the person outside finally heard sounds. He realized something had been wrong and immediately walked in.
When he did, he saw the group of people on their feet, their eyes shining with motivation.
"What did you do," the man asked.
"Told them the thing they needed to hear," Alex said and turned towards them once again. "Make sure to spread those words elsewhere too. There should be many people that need it."
Alex left. The working man followed him outside.
"Thank you for what you're doing," Alex said.
"No… the problem," the man was still a little confused as to what had just happened in there. "It's the Royal decree after all."
"Oh, is it?" Alex was a little surprised. "Then can I expect a lot of people to be helped similarly in other cities too?"
"Yes," the man said.
"I see. Still, you have my thanks," Alex said and left. He had helped the players as much as he could while keeping some information to himself.
He didn't tell them that their home was in this world. If the news spread that the fifth continent had people living, who knew what the people from the other continents would do.
He felt it necessary to keep just that piece of information hidden.
Alex walked through the busy streets and finally reached the Alchemy guild that he had meant to come here since yesterday.
He walked into an open hall of people walking in and out of it. There was a reception at the center with 4 to 5 people working on it with a queue on each of those lines like people waiting for their turns at a bank.
Two giant, circular pillars held the ceiling that was nearly 10 meters high. Alex saw two doors on either side of the reception that led to… somewhere.
Alex got into a queue and waited for his turn.
"How many I help you, Fellow Daoist?" the lady at the reception asked him when it was his turn.
Alex handed her a talisman and said, "I'm looking to buy any of these ingredients."
The receptionist looked at the list and compared it to something else she read through using a metal plate that didn't look so different from the nameplate that the Hong Wu sect used.
"We have Winevein Poppy and Hotfeather Eagle's tail feather," the lady said.
Alex smiled. That was 2 more ingredients down.
"I would like to buy them please," Alex said.
"Yes," the receptionist said. "These will be 12 True Spirit Stones in total. You can get some discounts if you have an Alchemist's badge."
"A… discount?"
